medieval

• Hippocrates was a Greek physician, devised idea of Four Humours
• Galen was a Roman physician, author of 60+ books. Ideas were basis of medical understanding
• Physician: person who practices medicine
• Barber surgeon: cut hair / carried out bloodletting
• Apothecary: mixed herbal remedies
• Remedy: cure for an illness
• Four Humours: liquids in body which must remain in balance for good health
• Ideas about CAUSE of disease Supernatural ideas:


  The Church was hugely powerful: Belief in heaven / hell

  • No education, so people learned from church

  • God punishes sinners

  • Disease is a punishment sent by God.
• Ideas about CAUSE of disease

  Astrology: Idea that the position of the stars affects our lives. Physician would consult star charts and when a patient was born to make diagnosis
• Ideas about CAUSE of disease

  Four Humours: This was an ancient idea, first put forward by Hippocrates. The universe is made up of four elements; and the body is made up of four humours, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile. If these humours are in balance the body will be healthy, when they are unbalanced you become ill. Galen developed the idea with theory of Opposites. For example, f you had a phlegmy cold, this should be balanced by eating something hot eg pepper.
• Ideas about CAUSE of disease

  Miasma: Bad smelling air thought to be harmful – so corpses, rotting matter, swamps thought to cause disease. Ancient Greek theory, also believed by Galen.
• Approaches to TREATMENT and PREVENTION

  Treatments:

  Religious/supernatural Prayer; saying mass; fasting; going on pilgrimage – all advised as religious “treatments”

  Some believed disease because punishment was sent by God, you should not try to treat.
• Approaches to TREATMENT and PREVENTION:

  Treatments:

  Humoural Treatments: Physician suggested a treatment for each symptom, including bleeding and purging; bathing (only available to rich); remedies (made from herbs and spices)
• Approaches to TREATMENT and PREVENTION

  Prevention

  PRAY! - Practice basic hygiene (as recommended in the Regimen Sanitatis) Purifying bad air (eg carry a sweet-smelling “posy”; some measures were taken to keep towns clean, like clearing animal corpses)
• Approaches to TREATMENT and PREVENTION

  Who cared for the sick?:

  • The Physician was university educated; expensive so only available if you were rich

  • Diagnosed illness by: observing sample of urine consulting astrological charts.

  • Apothecary mixed the herbal remedies.

  • Surgeon performed basic operations and bleeding

  • Hospitals run by Church. Provided clean place to rest and eat well. Many hospitals were places for travellers to stay

  • Most people cared for at home (kept clear, fed, herbal remedies). This was generally considered to be a woman’s role
• Case Study: The Black Death (1348)

  Killed 1/3 of British population 1348-50 Bubonic Plague: spread by fleas on rats Pneumonic Plague: spread by coughing
• Case Study: The Black Death (1348)


  Ideas about cause:

  People did not understand real cause, they thought it was:

  • Punishment from God

  • Imbalance of four humours
• Case Study: The Black Death (1348)


  How was it dealt with?:

  • Prayer / fasting / flagellation (whipping)

  • Light fires / carry pommanders to ward off miasma

  • Local governments tried to control by

  • buildings new cemeteries
  • close Parliament in 1349
  • enforcing street cleaning in cities, but this often didn’t happen
• Case Study: The Black Death (1348)

  Consequences of the Black Death:

  Fewer workers, demand higher wages and had more freedoms.
• Examples of Continuity:

  • People still believed in ideas of Hippocrates and Galen: Four Humours, miasma

  • Church controlled education, very few books. Therefore very few new ideas, and little spread of information


  MINOR CHANGE: Use of the Regimen Sanitatis resulted in more hygienic conditions, although only slightly